A Penn State fan wears a paper bag masks studying “Fire Big Game James” earlier than the beginning of Penn State’s sport in opposition to Northwestern on Saturday exterior Beaver Stadium.
Courtesy photograph
The James Franklin period at Penn State is over.
The college introduced on Sunday afternoon that it has “made a change in leadership,” and confirmed that affiliate head coach Terry Smith will turn into the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Athletic Director Pat Kraft thanked Franklin.
“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin, who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” Kraft mentioned. “He won a Big Ten championship, led us to seven New Year’s Six bowl games and a College Football Playoff appearance last year. However, we hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships.”
The transfer was precipitated after the Nittany Lions misplaced their third-straight sport Saturday, 22-21, to unranked Northwestern, and loud chanting of “Fire Franklin” befell at Beaver Stadium.
Franklin
Franklin was additionally verbally harassed by followers resulting in the locker room.
After the sport, Franklin mentioned he “100%” accepted duty for this system’s present struggles and pledged to repair them.
In 2021, Franklin was signed to a 10-year contract extension, by means of 2031. He makes $8.5 million yearly.
Franklin is reportedly owed a buyout of $49 million. Terms weren’t introduced Sunday on whether or not there shall be a negotiated compromise.
Franklin took over the Penn State job in 2014 and compiled a 12-year report of 104-45. His 104 wins are tied with Rip Engle for essentially the most in Penn State historical past behind Joe Paterno’s 409.
He led the Nittany Lions to the 2016 Big Ten championship.
Franklin struggled in opposition to highly-ranked competitors, as indicated by his report of 4-21 in opposition to Top-10 groups.
Hopes have been particularly excessive for this season. The Lions misplaced to Notre Dame within the semifinals of final 12 months’s College Football Playoff, and with lots of their key gamers returning, they have been ranked No. 2 by the Associated Press coming into this season.
But after a 3-0 begin with lopsided wins over Nevada, Florida International and Villanova, the Lions misplaced to No. 6 Oregon within the White Out sport at Beaver Stadium.
Franklin was loudly booed in that sport as properly.
The loss to the Ducks was adopted by consecutive setbacks at UCLA and Saturday in opposition to Northwestern, each unranked and each 20-plus level underdogs.
Smith, a Pittsburgh native, is a former Penn State extensive receiver (1987-91) who was considered one of Franklin’s first hires in 2014. Smith has served as affiliate head coach for the previous 5 seasons along with being defensive recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach.
He had a profitable run as a highschool coach and athletic director at Gateway, his alma mater, earlier than becoming a member of Temple’s employees in 2013 beneath Matt Rhule.
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi additionally thanked Franklin, saying she appreciated his tenure.
“I am grateful for all that Coach Franklin has done for Penn State football and the university over the past 11-plus years,” Bendapudi mentioned. “We thank him for his dedication, and we extend our best wishes to him and his family as they move forward into their next chapter.”
Franklin’s PSU tenure produced 18 All-American alternatives and 59 NFL draft picks.
Kraft will lead the nationwide seek for Franklin’s successor.
“Penn State football is an integral part of our university and is an important part of the lives of our millions of fans, community members and alumni around the world,” Kraft mentioned. “We have the best college football fans in America, a rich tradition of excellence, significant investments in our program, compete in the best conference in college sports and have a state-of-the-art renovated stadium on the horizon. I am confident in our future and in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our program.”